Welcome to Artist Magnet!

About Artist Magnet

Artist Magnet is an LA-based arts service organization with the mission of empowering Artists by connecting them through Shows and Venues everywhere. The company’s services include professional development for local Artists, sponsorship of nonprofit arts organizations and productions, consulting services for arts companies and online services for Artists.

Founded in 2008 by Artist and Producer David Mack, Artist Magnet's featured project, currently in development, is to launch its interactive, artist-driven social network this fall.

The backbone of the network includes customizable, hyperlinking Resumes that Artists can build for free (or pay a monthly rate for premium features). Artist Magnet is unique from other networks because as the Artists build the work they have done, are currently doing, or will do in the future into their hyperlinking Resumes, they instantly start to connect to other Artists and Theatres in the following ways:

The Productions on their Resumes instantly hyperlink to Production Pages, which link to the Resumes of all the Artists (who sign-up) who have worked in those Productions.

The Theatres in their Resumes instantly hyperlink to Venue and Company Pages, linking to all the past, present and upcoming Productions associated with those Theatres, which in turn link to all the Resumes created of the Artists who have worked in those Productions.

The Directors on their Resumes instantly hyperlink to the Directors’ Resumes, or if the Directors have not yet joined, they can be instantly email-invited to join the network.

So in effect, the network becomes a six-degrees-of-separation for the LA Theatre world. Artists are able to build and link to the Production, Venue, and Company Pages free (Venues and Companies can manage their pages for a fee). Moreover, at every step of the process, Artists have easy access to a portal to instantly invite their Directors and fellow Artists to join the network and build their own Resumes so they can be linked to each other through their work (the Resumes are custom built for many different types of Artists, including: Actors, Singers, Musicians, Dancers, Directors, Designers, Playwrights, Dramaturgs, Choreographers, Stage Managers, Stage Crew, Puppeteers, Composers, etc.)

Because the content is being built from the ground up through the grassroots by the Artists themselves, rather than a database of information built by a coder or group of producers, Artists will be incentivized to join the network and build their Resumes in order to connect with their friends and colleagues. In addition, Artists will be able to store, save, share and print their Resumes through the network, making it easier to manage their professional artistic life in one place through the site. And Theatre Companies will be incentivized to join and manage their pages once they see that many of their Artists and potential customers are in the network. The network will start as a members-only site, meaning only Artists will be able to join and utilize the network; eventually, it will be opened to Producers, then fans and the general public.

The Artist Magnet team developed a 4min promotional film with support from the Pasadena Playhouse, which will be presented as a kickoff to a Kickstarter campaign in May and June to raise an additional $2,500 for the project. Next, the team will spend the rest of 2015 finalizing the coding, integrating the design templates, and promoting the upcoming launch at strategic Theatre festivals, Arts convenings and events. The launch date is now set for the summer of 2016, with a goal of 1,000 Artists using the network within the first 6 months. Once that goal has been achieved, the team will strategically roll-out new features (i.e. a comprehensive search engine, a messaging system, and an integrated network for fans and audiences to connect with their favorite Artists and Theatres) and eventually expand to LA-based musicians, visual artists, and Artists in other arts fields.

Proposed Outcomes

The online theatre network will empower Artists by giving them professional development tools and helping them build stronger connections with their theatrical colleagues. Currently, similar networks (e.g. LA Casting, Actors Access, IMDb, About the Artists, etc.) are controlled by a handful of producers and corporations who have access to all the data. These well-funded special interests often charge Artists up to $50 per month to upload their basic data into the site, even though many of these Artists struggle financially, especially early in their careers when they are most in need of these services. Meanwhile, these establishment casting directors and production companies get instant access to thousands of Artists’ data, often free of charge. Artist Magnet plans to invert this model; on Artist Magnet, any Artist is able to build a Resume, upload their data, and hyperlink it to their Shows, Venues and Directors, connecting to other Artists they work with – all for free. In turn, the Theatres and Companies pay in order to access this data. This model advances Artist Magnet’s mission to empower Artists by supporting their local networks and how they connect with each other.